The New York Times–bestselling author "delivers a knockout with the one-two punch of action-packed adventure and heart-pumping romance" (Nora Roberts).

When her husband, Nick, is killed by a masked man just hours after their whirlwind elopement, the sheltered shipbuilding heiress Anna Jourdaine is horrified and heartbroken. The tragedy is only made worse by the authorities' revelation that Nick was suspected of selling her family's ships to the American Confederacy—and that he wasn't at all who he claimed to be.

Refusing to believe it and desperate to clear his name, she finds herself in a deceptive plot, pretending to be married to Nick's brother—who turns out to be far from a gentleman. In fact, Brodie has just been saved from the hangman's noose. Yet Anna soon feels stirrings of desire for this disreputable character—and uncertain about which brother is the criminal and which is merely a thief of hearts . . .

"One of the finest writers to come along in years." —Romantic Times